State and Local

January 26, 2014 — The Mass. Division of Marine Fisheries and the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission have scheduled public hearings and a comment period to accept comments on proposed regulations that would affect the commercial striped bass fishery. The proposals could also indirectly affect a section of the recreational fishery as one measure would put an end to commercial fishing on fire-hire vessels during for-hire trips. Loss of income from selling fish caught by clients during charter trips could drive the price of recreational fishing trips aboard charter vessels.

To improve fish availability, regulatory compliance and fishing safety, one proposal includes: reducing the number of open commercial fishing days to as few as two per week; reducing the commercial striped bass daily trip limit from the current 30 fish per day limit to as low as 10 fish per day for commercial boat permit holders and just two fish per day for holders of individual or rod and reel permits; open the commercial fishery earlier than the current July 12 opening date (new opening dates from June 1 through July 11 will be considered); prohibiting for-hire permit holders from engaging in commercial striped bass fishing with clients aboard; and prohibiting dealers from purchasing more than one daily trip limit from a commercial fisherman during a calendar day, regardless of the number of permits that individual has in his/her possession.

A section of the proposal would establish a control date for all commercial striped bass regulated fishery permits. The control date may be used to limit entry into the commercial striped bass fishery in the future with options to include March 6, 2008, as the control date for all other hook and line fisheries or Sept. 8, 2013, the close of the most recent commercial season. Beginning in 2015, it's also proposed to require all commercial striped bass regulated fishery permit endorsements be applied for or renewed by the last day of February in any calendar year.

To comply with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's interstate management plan for striped bass, an additional proposal would establish a point-of-sale striped bass tagging program that would affect dealers.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

January 26, 2014 — Message-in-a-bottle stories are always entertaining, but Rhode Island charter boat captain Al Anderson can now tell a fishy version that’s a heckuva of a tale.

Anderson, 75, has been taking people fishing out of Galilee for nearly half a century. For most of that time, he’s taken every opportunity available to tag and release fish — a practice he began even before regulatory agencies and scientists had organized sophisticated tagging systems to learn more about different species.

In fact, he started when he was a graduate student in fisheries biology at the University of Rhode Island.

“I’m a biologist by training,” says Anderson. “I value the resource. If I can catch the fish and let it go and further the resource, I’m all for it.”

He’s so devoted to the effort that he’s kept track of exactly how many fish he’s tagged in his long career.

“Get this,” he says. “I just exceeded 60,000.”

This is a story about just one of those fish.

In 1997, Anderson was working the Mudhole, a fishing spot southeast of Block Island. A man on his boat caught a very young bluefin tuna, weighing just 14 pounds. Anderson, of course, tagged it and returned it to the ocean.

As the years passed, bluefin tuna grew ever more valuable and ever scarcer while Anderson continued to take sport fisherman out to sea aboard his charter boat, the Prowler.
Then, about a month ago, a fisherman out of Nova Scotia was tending his longlines about 700 miles offshore when he hauled aboard quite a catch. It was a bluefin tuna weighing an estimated 1,200 pounds.

The fisherman quickly noticed it had a tag on it. While he took the prized tuna back to port to sell — the fatty fish can easily fetch tens of thousands of dollars on the sushi market — he reported the catch to the National Marine Fisheries Service’s voluntary tagging program.

Soon afterward, Anderson got a call from the agency. The fish was the very one he had tagged 16 years earlier. Only two other tagged fish in the program have been recaptured after so long. The federal agency, which says 270,000 fish have been tagged through the program, has put a spotlight on the remarkable story on its website and in news releases.

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS  (News Analysis) by John Sackton — Jan 27, 2014 — Walmart made a momentous announcement about seafood sustainability on Friday.  David Baskin, vice-president for meat and seafood, and the leader of the Walmart team that traveled to Alaska earlier this month, announced that Alaska’s RFM certification program fully met its sustainability guidelines, and that it would source non-MSC certified fish from Alaska.

Walmart has had seafood sustainability purchasing goals since 2005.  In January 2012 they spelled out their purchase policy:

“Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club require all fresh and frozen, farmed and wild seafood suppliers to become third-party certified as sustainable using Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) or equivalent standards. By June 2012, all uncertified fisheries and aquaculture suppliers must be actively working toward certification.”

However, it was unclear what standard Walmart considered equivalent to the MSC for their purchasing purposes.  In June of 2013, Alaskan suppliers, who had withdrawn from the MSC program, were told that Walmart would no longer purchase non-MSC salmon from Alaska.

This created a huge issue in the market, as Alaska salmon fisheries were widely considered the best managed wild salmon fisheries in the world, and if Walmart’s policy excluded this fishery, it seemed like the policy must be flawed.

ASMI mounted an educational campaign with customers about the RFM (Responsible Fisheries Management) certification system, which was based on the FAO guidelines for responsible fishing and for ecolabels.

Hearings were held in Congress where lawmakers challenged both Walmart and Sodexo to justify how their sustainability standards could exclude Alaska salmon.  The US park service and the General Services administration quickly revised their vendor guidelines to ensure that fisheries deemed sustainable by NOAA by operating within the legal requirement to prevent overfishing and to not be overfished, would not be excluded from purchase.

There are two separate programs underway to develop broad open principles for seafood that can be used to determine whether a seafood sustainability certification program is credible or not, and should be accepted by retailers as meeting their highest purchasing standards.

One program is called GSSI – Global Seafood Sustainability Initiative – and involves retailers such as Ahold, Metro, and many others.  GSSI was funded by the German development agency, and is convening stakeholder, including retailers, NGO’s, and industry, to develop a benchmarking standard similar to that done in the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) about 12 years ago.

Walmart has taken a different approach.  They have worked with another group of major buyers including McDonald’s, Tesco, Disney, Ahold, Dalhaize and a number of other companies, to try and identify a sustainability scoring system that can be used across multiple products, and that incorporates the entire life cycle impacts of these products.

Walmart asked the group – called The Sustainability Consortium – to set up a seafood working group, and come up with principles by which individual companies could evaluate credible seafood certification programs.

Within the working group there was a heated discussion (see our Jan 2nd article NGO's push Walmart to defy Congress, reject Alaska's sustainability program) over whether the standards should include extensive interpretation as well – or should the interpretation of the standard be left to the individual companies.  NGO’s at one point threatened to withdraw from the process unless they had a greater role in “interpretation” though the use of their own experts and evaluation processes.

However the working group ultimately decided to keep their guidelines at a higher level.  The TSC statement says:

* The intended application is to provide TSC companies with consistent and transparent guidance for evaluating whether a sustainability program has been developed and is being managed in a credible way. This evaluation will be used to screen programs recommended within the Sustainability Measurement and Reporting System.

* For individual companies using the Sustainability Measurement and Reporting System to develop their own policies, the intended application is to offer guidance, or a starting point, for evaluating whether a sustainability program has been developed and is being managed in a credible way.

For a complete list of these principles, click here. 

Walmart has now taken these principles and applied them to Alaska’s Responsible Fishery Management (RFM) certification system, and found they fully meet Walmart’s purchasing guidelines.

Accordingly, they have made a third revision of their purchasing guidelines to say:

Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club require all fresh and frozen, farmed and wild seafood suppliers to source from fisheries who are:

– Third-party certified as sustainable using Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) OR
– Managing a program in accordance with the Principles of Credible Sustainability Programs developed by The Sustainability Consortium. (Third party review must be commissioned and provided upon request)

OR

– Actively working toward certification or involved in a Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP).

The full statement of Walmart's current policy is here. 

David Baskin, writing for Walmart, announced that Alaska’s RFM program fully met the guidelines established by the Sustainability Consortium, and therefore the company would purchase RFM certified seafood from Alaska.

"We’re proud of our role in promoting sustainable fisheries. So, when salmon fisheries in Alaska indicated they wanted to adopt a new program called Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM), we respected that decision but also wanted to credibly stand by our commitment. We turned to The Sustainability Consortium, an organization made up of businesses, academics and nonprofits, to develop principles for credible fishery management. Based on their findings, we took another look at our policy. We’re pleased to incorporate the latest science by applying TSC’s principles to our sustainable seafood policy."

"Walmart has proudly sourced seafood from the state of Alaska for many years, and under our newly revised sustainable sourcing policy, we will continue to do so."

"We appreciate the work The Sustainability Consortium has done to evaluate seafood sustainability and develop principles for credible sustainable fisheries programs. These credibility principles will help us ensure sustainable seafood is available for future generations, and we’re excited that ASMI is working with us to show how the RFM program meets these principles."

The importance of this change by Walmart to the overall ecolabel movement cannot be overstated.

Until now, all evaluations of the various programs, whether they be MSC or others, have been conducted by the parties involved, not by an independent group.  So MSC and WWF have offered their own sponsored studies that concluded only the MSC program met a true sustainability standard.

Walmart’s application of the principles of the Sustainability Consortium is the first time an independent evaluation mechanism has been used.  When the GSSI makes its final report, it will offer another independent evaluation mechanism.

These benchmarking systems – although not intended to directly compare one certification system to another – represent a big step forward by retailers to recognize that different certification schemes serve different purposes, and that the broad question of seafood sustainability can be addressed in a multiplicity of ways.

Walmart does not easily change its positions.  It has global sales in excess of 440 Billion.  It is the largest global retailer, and in the US has more than 10% of total retail. Grocery is even more important.  It has a 25% share of US food sales, and its grocery division accounts for 55% of US division revenue.

As many Walmart suppliers know, when a decision is taken the company will stick to it, often without regard to the impact it may have on suppliers or their operations – they are expected to adapt. So the fact that Walmart has changed its policy in this case is a true tribute to the importance of Alaska’s seafood, and a clear statement that even the largest retailer in the world cannot sustain a policy that does not recognize the huge successes of Alaska seafood management.

This is the first time a major retailer orignally committed to MSC has gone beyond the MSC framework to explicity endorse a different certification program.  It means that more programs will be found to be equivalent by retailers in the future – and assures the long term success of Alaska's RFM certification, and its withdrawal from the MSC.

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

January 24, 2014 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

After listening to input from local scallop harvesters, Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher today announced scallop management measures for the Cobscook Bay area that will allow harvesters to continue fishing three days a week.

The measures, implemented through emergency rule making, go into effect Friday, January 24, 2014.

“After careful consideration of the comments I received at a meeting with industry last week in Whiting, I have amended an original proposal in order to accommodate the industry’s desire to fish three days a week,” said Commissioner Keliher. “This measure provides a balance between conserving the resource and protecting economic opportunity for commercial harvesters.”

The conservation closures of Cobscook Bay and the St. Croix River on alternating days aims to provide for 3 days of fishing in three different areas of Zone 3. 

Draggers will be able to fish Mondays in Whiting & Denny's Bay, Tuesdays in Cobscook Bay’s East, South and Johnson's Bays as well as Friars Roads off Eastport, and on Wednesdays in the St. Croix River north of line from Kendall’s Head to Cummings Cove on Deer Island, Canada.

Divers will be able to fish Wednesdays in Whiting & Denny's Bay only, Thursdays in Cobscook Bay only and on Fridays in the St. Croix River only.

In addition to the input received during the meeting with industry, the Commissioner weighed information from Resource Management Coordinator Trisha DeGraaf who oversees resource monitoring and management for the fishery. “What we have removed from Cobscook this year is 73 percent of the starting harvestable biomass,” said DeGraaf.

“Our monitoring program determined that the estimated harvestable biomass for Cobscook Bay this season is 380,100 pounds,” said DeGraaf. “After nearly two months of fishing, 278,100 pounds have been harvested in the Cobscook Bay area, which is nearly as much as was landed in the entire state during 2012.” Those landings, according to DeGraaf, are due in part to increased available biomass, the result of intensive management efforts during the past five years and favorable environmental conditions that allowed sublegal scallops to grow to harvestable size.

“The scallop fishery experienced an all-time low in 2005, landing just over 33,000 pounds of scallop meats (276,000 pounds of whole scallops including the shell and viscera) from Maine waters,” said DeGraaf. Management measures begun in 2009, which included a combination of targeted closures and limited access areas, resulted in landings in 2012 of over 280,000 pounds of scallop meats (2.4 million pounds of whole scallops).

The increased available biomass has also led to more pressure on the fishery. “There have been more than twice as many boats fishing Cobscook Bay this season than last season,” said DeGraaf. This increased fishing pressure and its potential impact on the future of the resource led DeGraaf to recommend conservation closures. “We are now over-fishing the remaining spawning stock biomass which is needed to replenish what was removed this year, as well as to continue rebuilding the resource for the future,” said DeGraaf.

“This measure is a good compromise between preserving short term and long term economic opportunity for industry,” said Commissioner Keliher. “I appreciate the commitment of scallop harvesters to participate in these discussions and help us make the most informed management decisions.”

 

January 23, 2014 — Representatives of commercial and recreational fisheries and other iconic Jersey Shore activities hobbled by Sandy expressed concern Wednesday that the pot of money they hoped would help them recover will be spread too thin.

"We will be competing with Alaska and Massachusetts," said Tom Fote of the Jersey Coast Anglers Association, referring to a pool of $75 million in federal appropriations approved by Congress, but not limited to Sandy-ravaged areas, as they had lobbied for. "We have the West Coast with salmon issues. It'll be a battle."

Fote and others convened on a teleconference call organized by U.S. Strong, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that has been advocating a dedicated source of federal funding for future extreme weather relief and protection.

Advocates for both recreational and commercial fishing interests said recovery is at best incomplete.

"The timing of Hurricane Sandy couldn't have been worse," said Paul Eidman, a captain and owner of Reel Therapy Fly & Light Tackle Fishing Charters in Monmouth County. "It was right in the middle of striped bass and blackfish season. The economy had hurt us long before Sandy, but when Sandy hit, it seemed to put the last nail in the coffin for a lot of us recreational fishermen."

With waterways impassable, docks destroyed, boats totaled, and tourism down, the billion-dollar economy built up around these activities wilted, down anywhere from 34 percent to 42 percent.

Read the full story at The Philadelphia Inquirer 

 

 

January 22, 2014 — The Pollock trawl fleet now has a device that could help them avoid catching too many salmon. It’s what’s called an “excluder,” and has been in development for more than ten years. The design was presented at the Marine Science Symposium meeting in Anchorage.

Listen to the story at Alaska Public Media

 

MARSHFIELD, Mass. — January 22, 2014 — Local fishermen struggling to make mortgage payments and heat their homes could be given some relief after it was announced last week that the U.S. House of Representatives has included $75 million in national fisheries disaster relief in the Fiscal Year 2014 Omnibus Appropriations bill.

These funds will be distributed to fishing communities deemed to have suffered industry disasters, such as the salmon fisheries in Alaska, New York and New Jersey fisheries impacted by Hurricane Sandy, and the New England fishing industry.

In 2012 a federal fisheries disaster was declared for Massachusetts after significant cuts were made to the groundfish catch allocations.

“This is good news for our fishermen, who will receive some assistance to keep them in business and to help them to be able to pay their mortgages and other costs,” said Representative Jim Cantwell, D-Marshfield.  “Arguably, however, this could be a multi-year requirement.”

However, it’s not just about the money for local fishermen.

John Haviland, a fisherman from Marshfield, said issuing fishermen a check, though well meaning, is not the answer.

“Commercial fishermen want to be allowed to catch fish and be commercial fishermen,” he said.  “We want to fish.”

He said while $75 million sounds like a lot of money, “the pool is relatively large for that amount of money.”

“By the time it gets to the fishermen, there is not going to be enough to sustain them,” he said.

Read the full story at the Marshfield Mariner

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (AP) — January 22, 2014 — The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries is holding seven public meetings about placing shells and rock in the water to improve shellfish habitat.

The shells and rock are placed in potentially productive shellfish areas to attract oysters, clams and other aquatic life so that they'll colonize on the material.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WAVY

January 22, 2014 — Congress is poised to vote on what is always a contentious matter — a new farm bill.   With just a few outstanding issues, lawmakers are honing in on an amendment that has to do with catfish.  It’s an issue that cuts across regional, rather than partisan lines. And on the New Hampshire Seacoast, it hits close to home.

Fish For A Tight Budget

Local fishermen aren’t the only ones who make their livelihood selling fish along the Seacoast.   Here at the High Liner Foods in Portsmouth, 65 million pounds of frozen fish leave the assembly line each year.

On the plant floor, workers heft frozen slabs of ground fish from cardboard boxes. A machine slices them into 2x4s, then feeds them onto a conveyer belt.  Senior Vice President of Plant Operation, Art Christianson explains. “We’re basically using [fish] block, but shaping it into a form so that it is identical to a fillet shape.”

This plant also makes breaded fish sticks, nuggets and patties for retail chains like Shaw’s and Costco. 

In this segment of the fish market, it’s not about tasting the sea. High Liner Foods Chief Operating Officer Keith Decker says “most Americans do not want their fish to taste like fish. They want it to taste bland and white.”

Like tilapia, Decker says, and Catfish. Especially Catfish. “This is the perfect fish,” Decker says. “It's very inexpensive, it offers a great value.”

But there’s a hitch.

Read the full story and listen to the audio at New Hampshire Public Radio